


The way to friendship

by Ledgea



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Banter, Crack, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Humor, Kidnapping, Lambert what are you doing ?, No braincells are to be found in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27661505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ledgea/pseuds/Ledgea
Summary: “Will you just leave me alone !”, Aiden yells at him as he urges his horse forward.“I can't,” the other man screams back, “I caught you, you're my friend now, I'm not letting you go !”“That's not how friendship works, asshole !”, Aiden indignatly splutters.“That's how it works for me !”Or Lambert needs a friend because of Geralt's foolish idea and he has no idea how to acquire one, so he resorts to some minor kidnapping.
Relationships: Aiden & Lambert (The Witcher), Eskel & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Lambert & Vesemir, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 95





	The way to friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!!
> 
> Talking with BetaRay_Bill on my last fic, we had a silly idea about a stupid first meeting between Lambert and Aiden... And I just couldn't resist writing it.  
> Do not expect much seriousness in this :D  
> I still hope that it'll make you smile or laugh!
> 
> Enjoy!!

“You ! Hey ! You !”

Aiden doesn't bother turning back, people screaming at one another isn't his problem and he'd like to keep a low profile for a few more days. He doesn't usually travel so far north, but a string of contracts had brought him to Kaedwen and he's rather enjoying discovering new landscapes and settlements. He'd just like to be able to stay some more before someone decides to throw him out of this town, and that means minding his own business.

So he stays at the market stall he's been lingering at, doesn't look up and sniffs the two soaps he has in his hands again. He has a cedar scented one in his left hand and a nut scented one in his right, and he doesn't know which one he wants to buy. The scents are so different from what he usually uses, lavender or olive scented ones, that he's tempted to buy both.

“Are you fucking deaf ?”, a man bellows in his face and Aiden takes a step back, startled.

“What ?”, he asks and looks around, wondering if the man really is talking to him.

“I've been calling you for the last minute, you dimwit,” the man says and takes his arm to drag him away.

Aiden twists out of his hold and takes a step back, he doesn't know what this man wants with him, but he's surely not going to follow someone so rude, he'll probably end up bleeding out in a ditch in a few minutes. He then takes a few seconds to give the man in front of him a once-over, he's a bit smaller than Aiden, but looks sturdier. His hair is a fiery red color, he has a few scars on the right side of his face and he sports the same yellow eyes as Aiden.

That doesn't mean that Aiden knows him though. He stares some more, squints his eyes, but can't remember ever meeting him before. He then looks at his medallion, frowns at the Wolf that he finds on the man's chest and takes another step back, just as a precaution.

“Do I know you ?”, Aiden asks frostily.

“No,” the witcher answers, “But if someone asks we've known each other for six years.”

Aiden then carefully scans the market and wonders what trouble this witcher is trying to outrun that would push him to seek him out. He doesn't find any threats and has to take another step back when the witcher tries to grab his arm again. He doesn't want to cause a commotion so he refrains from drawing one of his blades in return, but the man is starting to piss him off.

“I'm not interested,” Aiden finally says, “I'm not looking for trouble.”

“Tough luck,” the witcher smirks, “I caught you, I'm keeping you now.”

“I'm not an animal,” Aiden bristles.

The other witcher is prevented from answering by the woman who's holding the soap stand. She steps between the two of them and angrily rants at Aiden about him trying to take off with her merchandise. Aiden tries to placate her, but she doesn't want to listen to him, and the Wolf smirks at him before stepping up and paying the woman for the two soaps.

“I don't need your charity,” Aiden growls at him and heads for his horse.

The crowd is staring at them now, and they don't feel friendly anymore. He sighs and has to resign himself to the fact that he'll spend his nights outside for a few days. He sticks the soaps into his bags, but before he can mount up on his horse, his arm is once again grabbed and the other witcher forcefully tugs him out of the village towards the north.

It takes Aiden a few minutes to get free and he actually fights back once they leave the settlement. The man is definitely annoying him now and Aiden doesn't know what he did to be saddled with him and what the witcher wants. They end up brawling on the road leading out of the village, but Aiden refrains from using his blades when the other man sticks to his fists. Apparently he doesn't want to kill him or to severely injure him, which is nice to know.

Their fight ends in a draw. Aiden has a broken nose but he managed to break several fingers of the witcher's right hand in return. It's good enough for him. They stare at each other for a while and this time when Aiden gets on his horse's back, the other man doesn't try to stop him. Unfortunately the witcher mounts up too and follows him.

“Will you just leave me alone !”, Aiden yells at him as he urges his horse forward.

“I can't,” the other man screams back, “I caught you, you're my friend now, I'm not letting you go !”

“That's _not_ how friendship works, asshole !”, Aiden indignatly splutters.

“That's how it works for me !”

“By Melitele, you're such a moron !”

“Takes one to know one !”

Aiden lets out an exasperated scream at the retort and hurriedly continues on. He hopes that if he'll continue to push forward, the man will grow bored and leave him alone. And if he'll continue to creepily stalk him, Aiden vows that he'll get his blades out and show him why he should leave him alone. He'll give him a week to come back to his senses, and then he'll strike back.

* * *

Striking back turns out _not_ to be a good idea. He decides to scare the damn Wolf away a week after their first meeting, manages to stab the man at midday when he insists on keeping an eye on him while he uses the bushes and gets stabbed in return. 

He debates stabbing him again, but he feels like it'll only lead to more injuries, so he sheathes his dagger with an exasperated growl and limps back towards the clearing where they left their horses. The other witcher follows him, carefully holding his right arm, and they settle on two opposite logs to take care of their wounds.

"What's your name ?", Aiden asks once he's done taking care of his injury and is slowly chewing on some jerky, he feels like he should know the name of the man who'll probably annoy him to his death.

"Lambert," the witcher answers, "Uh, didn't I introduce myself already ?"

"No," Aiden sighs, "I'm Aiden by the way."

"I know, you tend to use your name when you mutter to yourself under your breath."

"Stop eavesdropping !"

"Hey ! My ears are here and you're here, it's not my fault ! Mutter in your head, I won't be able to hear that."

"Or you could just give me some privacy !"

"I gave you some, and then you tried to run away in the night," Lambert vehemently says and he sounds indignant which is stupid, because he has _no reason_ to be indignant.

"I didn't run away," Aiden says through gritted teeth, "I just wanted some peace !"

"You can have some peace. In my presence."

"I don't want your presence !", Aiden screams a bit hysterically.

"Too bad, you're my friend now, I'm keeping you."

"That's not how friendship works !"

"Yes, it is," Lambert says and nods decisively.

Aiden sighs and raises his arms to the sky, but apparently nothing he'll do will make Lambert change his mind. So Aiden carefully gets back into the saddle, makes sure that his injured leg is comfortable and heads off. The damn Wolf dutifully follows him.

"What do you want exactly ?", Aiden finally asks him in the evening.

They hadn't travelled far this afternoon, stopped in a clearing, foraged for some food, taken a quick bath and eaten in silence together. Aiden had then decided to go to bed early and the stupid Wolf had nodded and sprawled over his chest like a blanket – a now sadly usual unfortunate consequence of his trying to run away a week ago.

"I told you, I need a friend."

"No, you didn't," Aiden grumbles, "You just started to creepily follow me around for no good reason."

"I so do have a good reason," Lambert huffs against his neck, it tickles pleasantly but Aiden refuses to squirm.

"Which is ?", he asks and hopes that Lambert will finally give him a clue about what exactly is going on.

"I need a friend to bring back home for winter," Lambert mumbles.

"What ?"

"I, me, Lambert, need, require, a friend, a companion, _someone_ , to bring home with me. For winter. Are you stupid ?"

"No, I got that, but I'm not your friend !"

"Yes, you are. We've known each other for _six years_ , don't tell me you already forgot about that ?"

"A week," Aiden splutters, "We've known each other for a week."

"Six years," Lambert contradicts him, "And you better remember it right when you meet my brothers."

"What brothers ? I'm not going with you," Aiden says and hopes that he sounds decisive.

"Yes, you are. I told you, I'm not letting you go."

Aiden sighs, raises his head and bangs it back down on the bedroll, Lambert is fucking exhausting.

"Why me then ?"

"You seemed nice."

"I'm not nice !"

"I saw you give her toy back to a child and you stole a loaf of bread that you gave to a beggar."

"Those were accidents !", Aiden indignantly says and flails his arms until Lambert takes a hold of them and pins them between their bodies.

"Sure," Lambert grumbles sarcastically, "I believe you. My brothers like nice people though, so you'll fit right in."

"Don't you have a true friend somewhere ? You wouldn't need to kidnap me then, I'll even help you find them !"

"The last person I tried to befriend run away screaming and came back with a mob of men armed with pitchforks," Lambert deadpans.

"That's what happens when you try to kidnap someone, you moron !"

"You didn't raise a mob."

"I stabbed you !"

"I stab my brothers all the time. It's to show them that I care."

"That is definitely _not_ how it works."

"Works for me," Lambert shrugs and Aiden sighs again.

He waits a few seconds to ask his next question.

"Why do you need to bring a friend back with you so badly ?"

"We upset our mentor last winter," Lambert mumbles and if Aiden is not mistaken, he's blushing slightly, which means that he just _needs_ to know more.

“And ? That doesn't explain anything.”

“So Geralt, one of my brothers, said that we should each bring a friend back this winter so that we'd be less annoying on our own. And it was a shit idea, but Eskel agreed and I was outnumbered.”

“You could decide to ignore your brothers' decision.”

“Are you stupid ? That is a sure way to end up being mocked all winter long”, Lambert says and starts to rant, “Geralt issued a challenge and I'll fucking face it ! Even if it's unfair, because Geralt has a bard following him around like a puppy and a sorceress he fucks, so he can even pick which one he'll bring, and Eskel is so nice, he'll have no trouble finding someone to accompany him, and then there's me. And I know that I'm not the most likeable person on the Continent, but I'm not a damn quitter, and I'll drag you to the keep even if I have to chain you to my saddle to do so !”

“ _That_ is creepy,” Aiden points out sensibly.

“Then my moronic brothers will stop underestimating me,” Lambert continues and ignores him, “And I'll be able to rub my new-found social skills _into their faces_.”

“What social kills ?” Aiden mutters and lets out a pained grunt when Lambert jabs one of his fingers into his ribs.

“Stop being a smartass and go to sleep,” Lambert growls at him and relaxes over Aiden's chest.

“I'm not tired.”

“Yes, you are. And don't you think that you'll escape me. You're coming with me and that's final.”

Aiden hums and closes his eyes, he's starting to believe Lambert. The man's stubborness is scaring him a little and he feels like he won't have a choice about going with him, not that he has a pressing matter to attend to this winter, but being asked instead of coerced would have been nice.

Not that he would have said yes to a stranger in the first place and in Lambert's shoes, he probably would have done something similar, he's well aware that there's no limit when you need to show up your brothers. He shivers then, because he's starting to understand Lambert, which probably means that he should go to sleep, his brain is surely malfunctioning, that must be it and Aiden closes his eyes.

* * *

Despite his best efforts to be as unbearable as possible and another mutual stabbing – Aiden doesn't need an audience when he wants to take care of an _itch_ , unfortunately Lambert had disagreed and Aiden had felt totally justified in his stabbing – he still ends up at the bottom of a Kaedweni mountain with Lambert at his side a few weeks later. He's somewhat resigned to his fate by now, and at this point he's just glad he avoided being chained to the Wolf's saddle.

"Can I reiterate that I don't want to climb that moutain ?", Aiden asks on the morning they're set to start their ascent.

"Your objection has been duly noted and discarded as inconsequential," Lambert answers from a few feet away where he's rolling up his bedroll.

"I hate you," Aiden sighs and looks at the moutain again, it looks high, he's almost sure that he'll freeze this winter.

"No, you don't. I bought you a beer and a meal two days ago, remember ?"

Aiden remembers. He had woken up in a bad mood and with the Wolf sprawled over his chest. He then had had to wiggle free of his grip to get up and when he had come back from the bushes, he had ranted that he usually liked to share a drink first before taking anyone to bed. Lambert had blinked and hummed and had dragged him to a tavern at midday and payed for their meals. _It had been weird_.

"The beer was bad and some of the vegetables in the stew were moldy," Aiden lies.

Lambert snorts.

"As if. You just have no taste."

"Says the man who eats poisonous mushrooms !"

"They're tasty and they're not dangerous for us," Lambert says with a shrug, "And if you could keep that fact for yourself, it'd be nice."

"Can I leave if I promise to keep quiet ?"

"No."

"Then I won't promise anything."

"Aiden," Lambert whines and finally gets up, "I'll give you a massage in exchange."

"Do you even know how to give a proper massage ?"

"It can't be that hard," Lambert scoffs.

"You are _not_ putting your hands on my body, you menace," Aiden shudders.

"Spoilsport," Lambert grumbles.

Aiden shrugs and watches the Wolf pack his bags and saddle his horse, and then lets Lambert lift him up onto his own saddle. He's been refusing to mount up on his own for the last week in the hope this new behaviour would annoy Lambert into leaving him be.

Sadly it didn't work and Aiden soon learned that he better open his legs when Lambert lifts him, he'd spent some truly uncomfortable hours four days ago when Lambert had thrown him over his horse's back like a sack of potatoes and applied enough pressure to keep him there despite his wiggling around until they stopped to eat. The Wolf can be such an _asshole_.

Once Aiden is seated and leaning back into his saddle, Lambert takes a hold of his reins and leads the way up the moutain. The path is narrow and steep and Aiden spends the first day whining about the cold, and the sheer drops, and their slowness and the fact that he's hungry. Lambert doesn't answer him, but he growls back and his eye develops a nervous tick that makes Aiden smirk.

He stops after the first day, being busy navigating the path alongside Lambert, and now completely resigned to his fate. He doesn't fancy going down the moutain on his own and then he'd have to continue south and with his luck he'd probably end up stuck into a snow storm. It's probably safer for him to follow Lambert.

He still plays the deadweight though and delights into watching Lambert take care of everything while he lazes around. He starts to sing too, once he finds out that Lambert despises courtly ballads. He's racking his brains on their third day on the mountain, trying to remember the last verse of a Temerian ballad and repeating himself when Lambert gets up, opens his pack and rummages through it.

“Dirty sock or smallclothes ?”, Lambert asks him after a few seconds.

“What ?”, Aiden wonders, startled out of his rehearsing.

“Sock it is.”

And then Lambert launches himself at him and pushes one of his dirty foul smelling sock against his mouth. Aiden squeaks and flails and they end up rolling around in the dirt of the cave they sought shelter in for the night. Aiden manages to throw the offending sock into the fire – sadly not before Lambert made him eat a small mouthful of it – and he launches himself at the Wolf with a loud cry in retaliation.

They grapple some more until they end up just next to the fire and they both freeze with Lambert being pinned under Aiden's body. He smirks, bends down, watches Lambert's eyes go wide, takes a hold of some of his red curls and puts them into the fire. It's Lambert's turn to flail and Aiden watches him scream and urgently pat his head with a smug satisfied smile.

“You. Are. A. Nuisance,” Lambert growls at him.

“And you're a nightmare,” Aiden retorts.

Lambert snarls, rummages some more into his bag until he finds what appears to be a small mirror and examines the damage done to his head. It's rather horrible. The fire didn't touch his head – Aiden maybe got a bit weirdly attached, he wouldn't want to damage Lambert too badly – but almost a quarter of his hair on the left side of his head is missing and some curls are obviously burnt and stink. Aiden is rather proud of his handiwork.

“Look at what you've done,” Lambert complains, “I'll be the laughing stock of Kaer Morhen for months now !”

“Should have thought twice about trying to shove one of your socks into my mouth.”

“You won't shut up !”

“And you won't leave me be !”

Lambert grumbles some more, packs his mirror away and stalks to Aiden when he's done. Aiden braces himself, wonders if he's going to get punched, but Lambert just pushes him backwards into their bedrolls and lets his body cushion it's fall on Aiden's chest. The Wolf punches the air out of his lungs and settles over his chest so that his burnt curls end up right in Aiden's face and he scrunches up his nose.

“Your hair stinks,” Aiden complains.

“And whose fault is _that_?”

“I could shave your head,” Aiden offers instead of answering.

“Don't you dare,” Lambert grunts.

“Or ?”

“Or I'll _piss_ in your next meal.”

“You wouldn't !”, Aiden gasps indignantly.

“ _Try me_.”

And yeah, maybe Aiden shouldn't try Lambert, he feels like it would only end in tears and maybe a third mutual stabbing, nothing really appealing. Moreover he'd like to arrive in one piece at the Wolf's keep, just in case he'll need to fend off some attacks and run back down the moutain, that is still a possibility he needs to be considering.

“Goodnight,” Aiden whispers into Lambert's stinky hair.

“Goodnight,” Lambert mumbles back and they both close their eyes.

* * *

When they finally reach the Wolves' keep, a week after they started their climb, Aiden is so tired that he doesn't sing anymore and so cold that he voluntarily seeks Lambert out whenever he can so that he can leech some of his body heat. The damn Wolf seems pleased by the changes in his behaviour and Aiden vows to push him out of a window in a few days, it'll be a good practice and will keep him on his toes.

"Please, tell me that a warm bed is waiting for me ?", Aiden begs Lambert as they head to the stables.

"Uh, sure."

"You don't seem convinced. I'm throwing you out of your own bed if I have nowhere to sleep."

"I'm not going to let you," Lambert growls back, "We might need to share tonight, depends if someone prepared a room for you, but I promise that by tomorrow, you'll have your own bed."

"With a fire nearby."

"With a fire," Lambert agrees, "And as much furs and blankets as you want."

"I'll hold you to that," Aiden says and follows the Wolf into the stables.

He lets out a small sigh once he's out of the biting wind, selects the stall next to Lambert's and starts to take care of his horse. It takes them a while because Lambert insists on doing things properly – a thorough brushing could have waited until the next day according to Aiden – in fear of one of his brothers ranting at them later.

Once the horses are finally settled, fed and watered, Aiden lets Lambert shoulder all of their packs and follows him towards the keep. The castle is dark and wide and it somewhat reminds Aiden of Stygga. He shivers, abandons this trail of thought and firmly closes the door behind them. The hallway they enter isn't exactly warm but it's already better than the courtyard. Lambert puts their packs down at the foot of a monumental stairway and bellows at the top of his lungs to let the inhabitants know that he's here. Lambert's loud greeting doesn't even surprise him anymore, but he still shakes his head at the Wolf's antics.

"Can you be even louder ?", another witcher, white haired and scowling, grumbles at Lambert as he comes down the stairs to join them a few minutes later.

"I can try," Lambert answers with a smirk and opens his mouth.

"Please don't," Aiden objects and snakes his arm around Lambert's neck to put his hand over the Wolf's mouth.

"Thanks," the newcomer says and nods at him with a smile.

Aiden nods back, while Lambert squirms and grumbles unhappily. Aiden lets him go when Lambert starts to lick his hand and he wipes his hand off on the Wolf's cloak with a disgusted grunt.

"You're a child," Aiden accuses him.

"And you're a lazy ass," Lambert snarks back.

"So who're you ?", the newcomer interrupts them.

"Aiden," he answers, "And you are ?"

"Geralt. I'm surprised you actually managed to find a friend to bring back with you, Lambert."

"Fuck off," Lambert snarls, "I _told_ you that I'd find someone to accompany me. Who did _you_ bring ?"

"Yennefer," Geralt answers and smiles, "She's in the library, waiting for Eskel to finish preparing supper. So how long have you two known each other ?"

"Six years," Lambert grumbles and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Six weeks," Aiden contradicts him with a smirk.

"Aiden," Lambert whines.

"Lambert !", Geralt growls, "We said friends, not the first homeless stranger you stumbled upon !"

"I'm not homeless !", Aiden exclaims, wounded, and wonders if he looks like a homeless person, he should maybe buy a new cloak and polish his armour.

"He's my friend !", Lambert loudly proclaims and adds sheepishly, "Sort of newish though, yeah."

Geralt and Lambert soon start to loudly bicker together and Aiden shakes his head at their behaviour and heads further away into the hallway. He can see some light under a door a few meters away and heads that way hoping to find a fire to warm his hands. He hopes not to find a bathroom though, that would make for an awkward first meeting.

He pastes a smile on his face, opens the door and gapes. He definitely finds the kitchen, but also, going by the horns, stumbles upon a succubus with a very very happy and very very naked witcher wiggling in her lap. A bathroom would have been better. 

He lets the door fall shut again, closes his eyes and slightly bangs his head against the door. He's fairly certain by now that all of the Wolves are troubled and he's unfortunately stuck with them for a whole winter. He wonders which deity he pissed off to deserve such a fate.

"Do you know that there is a succubus in your kitchen ?", Aiden asks Geralt evenly.

"Really ?", Lambert excitedly asks and saunters to the kitchen door.

"Yes," Geralt answers, "She's Eskel's guest and mostly harmles."

"Mostly harmless," Aiden mutters to himself as Lambert elbows him out of the way of the kitchen's door.

"Ugh, Eskel, the kitchen table ! You dirty old man !", Lambert swears and bangs the door shut.

"Are you having sex ?", Geralt yells, "If I'm not allowed to fuck Yennefer in the kitchen, you're not allowed either !"

"Fuck off," Eskel bellows back.

"You're all unhinged," Aiden comments.

"Wait until you meet Vesemir," Lambert smirks at him, "Where is the old man by the way ?"

"In his room. He locked himself in," Geralt explains with a shrug, "He said that he'll hibernate if we insist on making each winter worse than the previous one."

Aiden totally understands this Vesemir, he'll have to see if the man would be amenable to offer him sanctuary for the rest of the winter.

"Oh, does he plan to starve to death ?", Lambert asks, "That would be a shitty way to go."

"We bring him food, moron," Geralt says and rolls his eyes, "Eskel is hoping to lure him out with mulled wine in a few days though."

"Good luck," Lambert snorts.

Just as Geralt opens his mouth, Eskel lets out a loud moan in the kitchen and they all grimace.

"You better have that table washed in an hour," Geralt yells at the door, "Yennefer is hungry !"

"Hopeless," Lambert grumbles and snags Aiden's arm, "Come on, I'll show you the hot springs."

"You have _hot springs_?", Aiden asks, "Why didn't I know that ? You could have told me !"

"Would it have changed anything ?", Lambert wonders and grins as they go down some stairs.

"Fuck, I would have run all the way up that damn mountain !"

"As if, you dramatic princess."

Aiden lets out an offended gasp and grumbles at Lambert's secretiveness, but follows him down eagerly anyway.

“Do _not_ fuck in the pools,” Geralt bellows after them.

“You need to review your definition of the word _friend_ ,” Lambert yells back.

“And do something about your hair, you look like a ghoul,” Geralt adds.

Aiden snickers and then yelps when Lambert tugs on his arm and he has to jump over to two steps lest he falls down.

“Nobody asked you, you fucking bleached scarecrown !”, Lambert roars back.

“You know, he's not wrong,” Aiden points out with a smirk, “You do somewhat look like a ghoul.”

“You're proud of you, aren't you ?”

“Very,” Aiden smugly answers.

“Smartass,” Lambert grumbles.

When they reach the bottom of the stairs, the Wolf leads him down a hallway towards a heavy door and for a second, Aiden wonders if Lambert lied and is going to try to lock him up into the keep's dungeon. He's relieved to spot several pools of water illuminated by torches once the door opens and he eagerly steps into the warm room.

“This is paradise,” Aiden whispers, awed.

Lambert bangs the door shut behind them making him jump and Aiden glares at him. He then turns back towards the cave, stares in wonder at the small gurgling waterfall supplying the pools and cautiously crouches down next to the nearest pool to dip one of his fingers in it. The water is pleasantly hot and Aiden can already imagine himself spending days into this small cave enjoying the quiet and relaxing.

Lambert quickly interrupts his train of thought by shattering the quiet though. The Wolf lets out a truly loudly joyous cry as he runs past him and throws himself into the pool. Aiden is taken by surprise, doesn't have time to move back and ends up completely soaked.

“You damn asshole,” Aiden curses Lambert as he gets up.

Lambert laughs at him and lunges, probably trying to grab him and to drag him into the pool with his armour still on. He quickly steps back and glares as the Wolf smirks at him. He then undresses, dumps his armour and clothes on a heap next to Lambert's and runs towards the pool. He jumps, curls into a ball and splashes Lambert as he lands.

“Oh, this is so nice,” Aiden moans when he emerges.

Lambert splutters next to him and wipes his face, before swimming towards a wall. Aiden takes a step back, sits on a ledge and reclines back as he close his eyes in bliss. He opens his eyes again when a soap hits him in the head and he throws it back at Lambert with a curse. They throw the soap back and forth until Aiden fumbles and it disappears into the depths of the pool.

Lambert laughs at him and throws another bar of soap with a grin. Then they wash in silence and lose the other soap when they're done too. Lambert shakes his head at him in mock disappointment and Aiden flips him off with a grin. He then lets the water carry his body and just lets himself float into the pool. He's vaguely aware of Lambert joining him and they slowly let the water relax their tense muscles in silence.

“You know,” Lambert softly says after a few minutes, “I think that I'm glad I met you. Mostly. When you're not being an asshole.”

“Says the prick,” Aiden snorts and adds, “You grew on me too. Like mold.”

They splash each other some more and Aiden laughs at Lambert when the man slips on one of the soaps, comically flails as he disappears under water and emerges spluttering and glaring. They calm down after that, take a seat on the ledge running around the pool and close their eyes contentedly.

Aiden has a feeling that he's going to like it here in Kaer Morhen and he's glad Lambert was too stubborn to let him go, even if he would have prefered to be approached less forcefully. At least he'll be able to mock the Wolf for his dumb ideas for years to come and maybe even rope Lambert's brothers into helping him in his endeavour, it will give him something to look forward to.


End file.
